1. Read the Chapter in the textbook.
2. Review the Essential Concepts below.
3. Answer and submit the Chapter Outline and Objectives
Remember to include the assignment or question statement before you write your answer.
Essential Concepts
This chapter focuses on four general topics: the IEP (Individualized Education Program), the concept of least restrictive environment, teaming and collaboration, and special education reform.
PL 94-142 requires that every child receiving special education services have a detailed written plan to guide those services and their delivery. This plan, called an individualized education program (IEP), is cooperatively developed by the school and the childŐs parents. Although an IEP is not legally binding, it is intended to establish a high degree of accountability for meeting the childŐs needs.
At the head of PL 94-142 is the concept of appropriateness and the presumption that what constitutes an appropriate education for one student is not necessarily appropriate for another. The issue of appropriateness cannot be decided solely on the basis of where a student receives his or her education. The restrictiveness of a particular setting should be assessed in relation to the needs of the child. An educational environment must support the academic and social behavior of the teacher, the regular education students, and students with disabilities. The teacherŐs obligation to teach and all studentsŐ opportunities to learn should not be dominated or controlled by any one individual or group.
Both regular and special educators are responsible for insuring that the needs of exceptional children are met. Effective educational programs must be cooperatively and collaboratively planned and implemented. Individuals considering a career in education can expect to be involved in teaching exceptional children to some degree.
The passage of PL 94-142 brought to an end the wholesale, and often arbitrary, exclusion of children with disabilities from the full range of experiences available in the public schools. These reforms encourage the school to fit the student rather than have the student fit the school and they are likely to go a long way toward improving the education of all children. The challenge remains, however, as to how to best meet the needs of exceptional children. While there is little disagreement that education is part of the answer, answers to questions about the content and organization of that education will determine the direction and future of special education.
Chapter Outline and Objectives
THE PROCESS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION
1. Define and describe the process of pre-referral intervention.
2. Define and describe MFE.
3. Define and describe the process of NDE.
4. List the factors that may contribute to culturally and linguistically diverse children being both under and over represented in special education.
COLLABORATION AND TEAMING
1. Define and provide examples of the different teaming models.
INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS
1. List the members of the IEP team.
2. List the components of an IEP.
LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT
1. Define LRE.
2. Describe the process of determining the LRE.
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
1. Discuss the arguments for and against full inclusion.
WHERE DOES SPECIAL EDUCATION GO FROM HERE?
1. Discuss the challenges that special education faces in the future.